Monday, May 28, 2012

Crescent Moon is like a gift--a present from Zentangle, as it is so satisfying and so versatile. It is also a great tangle for keeping you in the moment--the present. You have to really focus on coloring in those half-circles and spacing those auras, but it's such a joyful focus. It's no wonder Crescent Moon is used by Rick and Maria and probably nearly every CZT in introductory classes. It's a classic.

And Crescent Moon is the focus on this week's Diva Challenge (#72). I am excited about this challenge, as it will give me a place to send students to see a ton of beautiful ways that Crescent Moon can be utilized and tangleated. Without further ado, here is my first contribution to this Tanglation Nation Crescent Moon Challenge.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Molly Hollibaugh's new tangle, Pea-nuckle, does actually remind me of pasta--cavatappi, to be precise! Those hollow, ribbed spirals that I didn't even know about until recently. Such a cool pasta! I'm not sure what parfait has to do with it...but I liked the way it sounded. And Pea-nuckle indeed comes together in distinct layers.

The Diva chose Pea-nuckle for Challenge #71 (click to connect to her blog post about it), and I am barely getting it in before the end of the week. It was the last week of school, for me as well as my kids, and was a doozy, but I didn't want to miss yet another challenge! I do plan to go back and complete #71, the Sepia challenge. But here is what I "knuckled down" to complete and submit this week:

It was fun, and I enjoyed the challenge of making Pea-nuckle come together. My way of striating it in this tile makes the foreground shapes look like striped zucchinis or super long, skinny watermelons. (Such a food-focused blog entry this is!) So I think next time I will not do it quite this way. As I was working, I had several ideas for several other approaches I'd like to try with this tangle, but for the sake of getting the tile done, I forged ahead and just strove to be consistent. I did not even use another tangle...I just added auras to the background, with a few swirls and some weighting/rounding thrown in to keep things interesting.

Today I enjoyed a delicious lunch with my parents and my kids at the Tomato Head in Maryville--what a treat! In fact, though none of us had it, I do believe they serve cavatappi as the pasta on the kids menu! Mostly Tomato Head is known for delicious pizza and salads, sandwiches, and burritos. It offers a wide range of vegetarian options, and the food is always fresh and interesting, not to mention yummy.

Afterwards, a short stroll down the street brought me to an art studio where I met Cindy McDannel, an artist and teacher who had contacted me earlier this spring to do a demo in June for Fine Arts Blount, a non-profit artist association in Maryville. I'm all set up for the June meeting! Just a quick demo. Should be fun!

In other news...I stopped into the Knoxville Book Arts Guild's meeting last week to introduce Zentangle. Thanks to Louise Ragle for inviting me...Louise had seen my presentation to the Smoky Mountain Quilters back in April, and thought her book arts guild would enjoy learning about Zentangle. I think they did, and I know that I truly enjoyed learning about this local group. I met some wonderful artists, and can't wait to go to future meetings. Zentangle and book arts are a fantastic match!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

This week's Diva Challenge (#68), a Duo Tangle challenge, had us utilizing two-- and only two--tangles: Hibred and Strircles.
I don't think I've ever utilized either of these tangles, so I had to step out of my comfort zone on this one. So here it is:

Hibred and Strircles

I goofed up so many times on Strircles...I just had to keep improvising variations as I went along. I had fun, though.

Once again I finished my tile and am posting and the very end of the week...maybe next week I can be a little less last minute! I did start this one much earlier in the week, though: either Monday or Wednesday afternoon. I began it while waiting in my van in the parking lot in the afternoon heat...not typically what one does for "fun," but I actually did not mind the wait at all since I had my Zentangle Kit with me and the weekly challenge on my mind! But alas, my parking lot wait time was not enough to finish, and I had to hunker down and complete it late Saturday night.

So that covers the two tangles.

Erin in the Center, her mom Jackie on the left,and yours truly on the right.

Now for the two Scout events! I'll tell you in chronological order. A week ago Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to help a Girl Scout Troop earn their art badge. One of my former students, Erin, was coordinating this badge, and she contacted me earlier this spring to see if I could come to a meeting and provide an art experience. I was thrilled to say yes! I planned a more traditional drawing activity for the troop, but also offered Zentangle as an option. Guess which one she chose?!

18 Scouts attended the meeting, and a few Moms were there, too. Caroline was there to assist me (Thank you , Caroline!) We had a fantastic time. I was so happy to see several of my former students (who attended the elementary school where I teach, but have moved on up to middle school), as well as several girls from Caroline's school. I brought in all my Zentangle books and lots of tiles to display, and some posters...and my computer so I could show them all the online resources that are available...but the majority of our time was spent hands-on, creating their first Zentangle tile.

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Troop Mosaic

The second Scout event was with the Boy Scouts. My son and husband are at the Spring Camporee this weekend, and Caroline and I drove to the campground this evening to see my son Joseph get surprised with an honor: he was selected by his troop to be a member of the Order of the Arrow. The OA is like the honor society of Boy Scouts, so you can just imagine how proud I am of him! I don't think I've talked about Joseph in his blog before, as it's a Zentangle-focused blog, and he doesn't tangle (yet!), but since I was talking about Scouts, I just had to share the news. Proud mama moment!